


you're a dead ringer for the pain in my chest

by eeveepkmnfan



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Awkward Crush, Crush at First Sight, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Comedy, nonbinary kiibo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 21:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeveepkmnfan/pseuds/eeveepkmnfan
Summary: “I am Kirigiri Kyouko, and my partner is Ouma Kokichi. I look forward to your cooperation, Saihara Shuichi-san.”Kyouko never thought that she would see Ouma-san like this. To think, it all started that day they prepared to interview a witness for a case. Now, it had quickly spiraled into something quickly becoming frustrating for all involved. If the two of them wouldn't make a move, as they both hesitated every time, then... Well, she would just have to offer her help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, I just want to give a quick shout out to Floro, for encouraging me to write this fic and for listening to me ramble about it! Thank you!! <3 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! This is bound to be something. I'm gonna have fun writing this one, I can already tell. xD

“Kyouko-chan.” 

It was her partner who had suddenly spoken, freezing in place as he stared blankly at the figure of the person they’d been planning on questioning. Said person was already talking to the officer who had received his call and come to the location, bright yellow eyes looking down and away as he hesitantly opened his mouth. 

“Yes, Ouma-san?” 

A head of dyed purple hair tilted back to look at her, eyes the same color a pool of disbelief and shock. 

“Kyouko-chan.” He just repeated her name as if expecting her to read his mind. (Then again, knowing her partner, that sounded like the sort of thing he’d try to get her to do.) 

She stared stoically back, not saying a word. The seconds ticked by slowly as they both waited out the (usual) time that it took. (If she kept staring, eventually he would throw his hands up with a scowl and accuse her of cheating. If she broke away first, then he would point at her with a frown and tell her she was a sore winner.) 

As always, he threw up his arms and spun around his heels, trying to hide his expression. “Geez, Kyouko-chan is being super mean today! First she makes me clean the office and now she refuses to let me have any fun….” He dramatically hunched over, and she could practically envision the rain cloud hanging over his head.

She put a hand to her mouth, over the small smile that had stolen across her face. And then she folded her arms and began walking. Behind her, he let out an undignified noise and hurried to catch up.

Blowing out a big sigh, Ouma-san looked up at her once again but then tilted his head away, already lost in his own head. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to, but she would have preferred it if he would at least talk over the case with her. 

(She had never once asked him what was on his mind, or to focus. Because she knew, perhaps better than anyone, that it wasn’t a problem of diligence. It was trust. No, he completed his work faster than anyone except for her. That was how he’d come to be assigned her partner, all those years ago. She knew they were the best team the agency had.)

If he wanted to say something, he would. It was as simple as that. (He was her partner. She trusted him. She trusted that he would make the decisions he thought were best for him. That didn’t mean they were good decisions, in fact they usually weren’t. That’s why she was here. To help him learn from those mistakes and hopefully make better ones the next time.)

She always found herself learning something new alongside him. (Was this what Kizakura-san had seen when he’d said, “You two are partners now. Take care of each other, alright?”)

The two detectives stopped in front of the officer, who looked at them blankly and then shirked loudly, eyes wide and a finger pointing rather rudely at them. 

“I-it’s you! What are you two doing here!?” Fukawa Toko, a former classmate of hers from the police academy, and someone who she’d rather have not seen here, if she were being honest. Fukawa-san was a fine officer and conducted her work well, it was just… she was more eccentric than Ouma-san, and the fact that they enrolled in different divisions is something she can only be thankful for.

“Hi hi, Fukawa-chan~! Fancy meeting you here! Is your wife already investigating the inside?” Ouma-san smiled innocently, hands clasped behind his back.

Their fellow officer turned bright red, scowling and gritting her teeth as she let out an ungodly noise somewhere between a wheeze and a scream. 

“O-o-omaru is not my wife! She’s my girlfriend, you, you purple devil! One more word out of you, and I-“ Before she could start ranting, her girlfriend raced out of the house and stopped before her other half, panting as she looked up with a bright smile.

“Toko! I found some really good stuff in there! You have to come see!” Saying so, she turned towards them and sparkled. “Why don’t we leave all the interviewing stuff to these two? It’s good to see you again, Kyouko-chan!”

She dipper her head in acknowledgement, a smile on her face. “You as well, Naegi-san. I only wish it was under better circumstances.” 

As if just remembering that they were at a crime scene, the two of them looked at each other and then nodded, far more serious expressions on their faces. Before they went back inside the house, Naegi-san sent one last smile at her.

“Remember to call my brother tonight, Kyouko-chan. He gets worried if you stay up all night working on case files.”

She looked away, no expression on her face. 

“Aw, Kyouko-chan looks all embarrassed! It’s okay, you can tell me all about how much you miss-“ She forcefully put a hand on top of his head and stared, eyes steely. Drops of sweat ran down his face as he smiled unconvincingly. 

An almost silent cough rang out from behind the two of them, and as Ouma-san jumped and whirled around, she simply tilted her head as she faced their witness.

Pressing down on her partner’s back, she forced him to bow, a whine sounding out as she did.

She smiled. “Forgive my partner for his informality. Rest assured, although he may be rather lacking, I am the best detective our agency has. You are in capable hands.” 

“Lacking!? How exactly am I lacking, Kyouko-chan!? I’ll have you know that I’m-“ 

She tilted her head slightly, exerting even more force and causing him to fall on the ground, groaning. Dipping her head, she extended her arm. Their witness slowly shook it, looking at them as if he had seen Hell itself. 

“I am Kirigiri Kyouko, and my partner is Ouma Kokichi. I look forward to your cooperation, Saihara Shuichi-san.”

Saihara-san opened his mouth, eyes wide. “A-ah, yeah. Um, yes! I’ll do my best, Kirigiri-san!”

Sharp purple eyes looked up at yellow ones from ground level. Slowly, Ouma-san got up and put his hands on his hips, smiling.

“Alright! Now that the boring prologue is out of the way, let’s get on to the juicy stuff! Tell me all~ about what you saw, witness-chan! Skip no details, leave no stone unturned! I wanna hear everything you have to say!”

Saihara-san reached up, only to put his hand back down when he met nothing but air. (A nervous tick?) He settled for picking at the material of his shirt as he glanced away from her sparkly eyed partner.

Then, he glanced up at her, and swallowed. 

“I’ll tell you everything that I saw. I just hope that it will be of some use…”

Kyouko smiled at him. “That all depends on you, Saihara-san.”

If possible, their witness looked even more nervous at her words. She shot a questioning glance towards Ouma-san, but he shook his head, giggles escaping from his mouth even as he tried to hold them in.

Ah. She saw now how that could have been interpreted as threatening.

She tried again. “Your account will be invaluable evidence for this case. Leave nothing out.” Maybe her voice had been too firm, because Ouma-san burst out laughing as Saihara-san clutched at his chest with a pained and vaguely stressed expression on his face.

She remembered now why Ouma-san was the one usually left in charge of talking. It was embarrassing, but somehow she always ended up scaring the witnesses. (Not that it wasn’t useful sometimes, but usually only on criminals.) She thought she had blocked those memories from her head, but apparently not. They came flooding back to the forefront of her mind all of a sudden, and she turned away from the both of them. 

“Your account, Saihara-san.”

“Ah, right! Then… here I go.”

Ouma-san snickered. “You sound like a visual novel protagonist. Here I go… time to start my journey… I’m the main character, guys…”

Saihara-san flushed and hastily averted his eyes, stammering something they couldn’t make out.

Kyouko internally sighed. With Ouma-san, things never went to plan. But. She observed the two of them as her partner gestured wildly as he told their witness about the so called blandness of video game protagonists, and to ‘don’t be like those guys, witness-chan, trust me, there’s nothing worse than a crappy MC! I mean, there’s just so much wasted potential, you know? Plus, did you know that…’

She smirked. It was a little funny, to see Ouma-kun dealing with a crush. She never thought that she’d see the day, and yet here it was. 

The next time he tried teasing her about her relationship with Makoto, she’d have all the ammunition she needed to fire back. It was a beautiful thought, and as she opened her mouth to remind them that they had an interview to proceed with, she caught Ouma-san sending her a look.

Kyouko sent him one back, her eyebrow going up as she tilted her head towards Saihara-san. She wanted to laugh as he quickly turned away, hiding his face from her.

His ears were red.


	2. Chapter 2

“I see. Thank you for bearing with my partner and I throughout this process, Saihara-san. As I thought, your testimony is an invaluable clue.” Kyouko put her hand to her chin, lost in contemplation. 

Their witness waved his hands. “Ah, it was no trouble, really. I’m just… glad that I was of some use.” He smiled shyly.

“Geez, who would have thought that our very own witness-chan saw the moment of the crime? But this case is basically closed now, huh?” Ouma-san put his hands behind his head and grinned. 

“Well, see you later, witness-chan! Try not to murder anybody the next time we meet, okay~?” 

Saihara-san flinched, expression shocked. A common reaction to someone not used to her partner. (Herself, Kizakura-san, Yonaga-san, that mysterious friend she’d seen him with a few times…) She wondered what he would have done if Ouma-san had smiled at him genuinely? (Was this interest reciprocal? Too early to tell.)

She watched her partner as his eyes reflected nothing, and thought to herself that he really must have tripped over himself trying not to like Saihara-san. (From the beginning, he’d not once called the other boy by name.) Making himself unlikable on purpose, trying his best to finish this case quickly, the conflicted look on his face whenever he forgot she was observing him (for him to forget in the first place was yet another mark to be added)…

That truly was just like Ouma-san. Afraid of opening up and afraid of happiness. (Scared that these easy days between the two of them and the rest of the agency were the one bright dream before the fall.) 

But this time, Kyouko wasn’t going to let him run away. Time after time, she had stood by and watched as he ruined his own chances. (Nightmares he woke from in a mess of sobbing, a hand he spurned, days where he was so quiet that people forgot he was even there, two years into their partnership when he said he was resigning…) 

Not this time. (Was this guilt or determination?) 

Crossing her arms, Kyouko faced away from the two of them and smiled faintly to herself, eyes closed.

“Ouma-san, I’m afraid this case isn’t over just yet. The agency requested that I return once we ascertained that this wasn’t a homicide. But the culprit of this incident has yet to be arrested.”

“Ouma-san, under orders from the agency, you’ll stay behind and investigate Yamazaki Daichi, the primary suspect for this case. Am I clear?”

Silence reigned over the area, only the faint sound of passing cars and bird calls intruding on the atmosphere around them.

“Whaaaat~? Kyouko-chan, come on! You know I hate this part the most, it’s so boring! And to leave me with this guy, really?” Ouma-san stomped his feet and puffed out his cheeks childishly. Meanwhile, Saihara-san’s face was in a deadpan as he looked towards her partner, the most lively expression she’d seen on him all day.

“I have the utmost of faith in my partner. Since it’s you, I have no need to worry, right?” She turned to glance him with a smirk and then started walking, whines and complaints pelting her back.

It was on her way to the train when her personal phone suddenly started ringing. Unlocking it, she stifled a smile at the familiar number flashing across the screen. Of course.

“Hello, Makoto.” 

What sounded like a crash from the other side.

“Haha, sorry. I’m still not used… to being called so familiarly.” He laughed, and she could envision the way he’d scratch at his forehead and the embarrassed smile he’d be sporting. 

She watched the scenery go by from her seat, wondering when they would be able to see each other next. 

“Oh, Kyouko-san, hello! I almost forgot to say it back. Did you remember to pick up lunch today? Or were you too busy with work? We can go out to that new restaurant if you want!” His bright voice kept talking, and a sense of contentedness washed over her.

“Is there a point to this call?” 

He laughed. “No, but do I need a reason to call my girlfriend?”

Kyouko smiled.

“No, I suppose not.” 

They continued talking until she reached the agency. (Makoto worried whenever she hung up before she reached a destination, even though he knew she was proficient in self-defense. Come to think of it, she needed to talk to him about enrolling him for lessons as well. It would be… relieving to know that he would be able to defend himself.) 

“I’m here.”

“Ah, really? It felt like hardly no time at all passed…”

“Indeed.”

“I don’t want to keep you, but at the same time… I really do.”

Kyouko laughed softly. “I’m hanging up now, Makoto. See you soon.”

She could hear the warmth in his voice, and no doubt, he had the biggest smile on his face.

“I’m looking forward to it, Kyouko-san.”

…

“…”

“…”

Shuichi wrung his hands as he stared down at the floor of the café that Ouma-kun had insisted they’d go. The detective had already finished squeezing him for all the details of the case once more, and with nothing more to talk about, the both of them simply settled into awkward silence. 

“Here you are! Enjoy!” A perky waitress set their food and drinks down, smiling.

“Ah, thank y-“ But she had already left by the time he’d opened his mouth. He wished the pressure that came when social interactions manifested just didn’t exist. Sure would be nice.

As Hoshi-kun would say, “Can’t win ‘em all, kid.” Maybe that Hoshi-kun Quote™ didn’t exactly fit the situation, but still. His roommate gave great advice.

He breathed out the tiniest sigh known to man, and prepared himself. He was ready, his mind focused, he could do this!

“You’re… you’re a detective, Ouma-kun?” As the purple haired boy slowly turned to look at him, absolutely blank-faced, Shuichi wanted to die. Let the Earth swallow him until he returned to the soil.

He just knew his face was bright red. Was it considered rude to bail on a meeting before you finished your food? But they had nothing left to talk about, and he had just made things even more awkward than before, if that was even possible?

Hoshi-kun had once told him, “You’re doing great, Saihara. Don’t sweat it.”

He could’ve really used Hoshi-kun’s physical presence right about then and not just his spiritual guidance. 

“So how about weather, huh? I love the rain!” Ouma-kun smiled brightly, almost blinding him in its dazzling glow.

No, but he really did almost have to shield his eyes. This boy was altogether too… much for him to look at.

So he glanced outside and almost did a double take at the bright sunshine. When he looked back, Ouma-kun was still smiling at him. He turned his head downwards and tightened his grip on his sleeve.

“Yeah, um… yeah, I like the rain too. Precipitation…” Please. Never let him interact with another human being for the rest of eternity.

“Right? I’m all about those cold fronts! They’re delicious!” Ouma-kun’s voice pitched up highly and then went back to its usual tone. It was a little odd, but who was he to judge? He was studying to become an environmental lawyer. (Some of his friends had somehow never even heard of the job?? For some reason, they regarded it as if it were something fascinating.) 

He made a vague noise that could either be taken as agreement or a very vehement refusal, reaching for the silly straw provided in his drink. The best kind of beverage.

Except, his fingers met another’s. Wide yellow eyes found themselves staring into purple, just as wide. Their fingers remained touching for approximately five more seconds before they snatched them away, not looking at each other. 

But who knows. It may as well have been a short eternity. He wasn’t exactly keeping count. In the back of his mind, sirens were blaring and the last synapses of his brain popped into thin air as they screamed, “I just touched a cute boy’s hand!”

He was too gay for this.

“Ouma-kun, um… what’s your favorite color?” He had no idea why he said these things, he really didn’t. But here they were.

Shining eyes glanced at his, and then a small smile made his heart constrict. 

“Yellow.”

As he was pondering over this, and whether or not it would be appreciated if he suggested giraffes and their habitats as a topic of conversation, Ouma-kun suddenly spoke up again, his voice much louder this time, causing a few people at other tables to crane their heads and look towards them. 

“No, wait, that’s wrong! I lied! I like purple, nishishi! What about you, Saihara-chan?” 

He couldn’t even be bothered about the people rudely staring at them. Instead, he tilted his head and wondered out loud, “You said my name…”

Ouma-kun opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, a hand coming up to point at him.

“You’re… you’re the worst, witness-chan! I hate you!” And as he bit his lip with a conflicted expression, as he made to leave… For some reason, he couldn’t let it end like that.

If nothing else, he wanted to make sure that Ouma-kun had been lying when he’d said that.

He gripped Ouma-kun's wrist firmly, and somehow managed the courage to meet his eyes as he stared at him in surprise.

All these eyes, and yet purple ones were the only ones he was concerned with. He wanted to talk more with him, even if they had to shoulder through even more small talk and awkwardness. Because… he honestly felt interested in Ouma-kun.

“It’s fine if you leave, or if you don’t use this, but. Can we exchange numbers?” 

He felt his hand being gently shaken off, and was then faced with a bright smile.

“Sorry, but I’m a busy guy! You’ll have to take a raincheck, Saihara-chan!”

And then he was gone, leaving Shuichi to stand there, his hand still outstretched.


	3. Chapter 3

They watched as Kirigiri-san dragged her partner along, an utterly unimpressed expression on her face. Ouma-kun was silent as he followed, pouting and rolling his eyes when he thought she wasn’t looking. (He should’ve already known that nothing could get past Kirigiri-san.)

No doubt that that guy had caused some trouble, yet again. It was baffling to them just why Kirigiri-san put up with all of it, and sometimes… they wondered if one day she would get tired of it. (But that was a very uncharitable thought, to both her and Ouma-kun, and the partnership the two of them had cultivated over years of hard work. They internally scolded themselves to not let personal bias stain professional relationships.) 

As the detective pair passed them, purple eyes met theirs and then quickly looked away with an almost silent huff. 

They smiled to themself in exasperation, not being able to help the faint fond feeling from welling up. He was childish and annoying (and there were days where it felt as if his one purpose in life was to drive them mad), but he was still their co-worker nonetheless. 

“You never learn, do you, Ouma-kun?” They chuckled as he whirled around and flailed as he tried to march over to them, the only thing stopping him the firm grip that Kirigiri-san had on his arm.

“You wanna fight, Idabashi!? Meet me in the parking lot, I’ll kick your ass!” 

They sweat dropped, sending him a questioning look. “Was that meant to be intimidating? I apologize, but I can’t help but compare you to a small kitten batting at someone’s legs.” He was certainly small enough.

“Kyouko-chan, do you hear this utter and baseless slander being thrown around?? I can’t believe that I’m going to have to sue a fellow employee of the agency!” Ouma-kun smiled at them cheerily, and they couldn’t help a shiver from crawling up their spine as they saw it. (They knew all too well the demon that lay underneath. They still remembered the all-nighter they’d pulled at the office, waking up only to hear Ouma-kun’s ungodly cackling as he stared at a gallon of milk he’d been holding. They had quietly gone back to sleep and to this day, dared not speak of the incident. Truly, they’d rather not.)

“Be quiet.” Kirigiri-san’s voice was stoic, and she didn’t even glance her partner’s way. Purple eyes glanced up at her and then away.

“Are you actually mad, Kyouko-chan? Geez…”

Kirigiri-san abrubptly stopped, causing Ouma-kun to run right into her back. He lifted a hand to rub at his nose as she spoke once more.

“No. I’m simply disappointed.” And it was that which made a brief expression of surprise flash across Ouma-kun’s face, before he fell silent. As if he didn’t know what to say.

Kiibo felt suddenly as if they were intruding on something they shouldn’t be privy to, but as the two of them were apparently intent on airing their problems to the whole office, there wasn’t much they could do. (They wished Angie-san were back from break already. If she were here, she would’ve made a lighthearted remark and washed the tension away. She was good at that.)

Kirigiri-san suddenly began pulling him again, a squeak escaping his mouth as he was caught off guard. (No doubt he would’ve denied it vehemently if pressed. Still. It always made them want to laugh when Kirigiri-san clearly showed just how used she was to steamrolling over Ouma-kun’s antics.)

“You and I are going to have a talk inside our office, and then…” Kiibo saw the faint hint of a smile on her face. 

“I’m going to impress upon you the importance of police procedures, until you’re reminded of why we don’t simply leave witnesses with no way to contact us.”

Ouma-kun protested. Loudly. “Kyouko-chan, what the heck! You already gave him the agency’s number, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Her voice went deadly soft, and Ouma-kun redoubled his efforts to escape, eyes nervous.

“Is that so?”

He let out a horrible wail that sounded as if he were afraid for his life as she escorted him into their office, and as the door closed behind them, Kiibo let out a relived sigh as it was cut off. Why must Ouma-kun always be so… so much?? (They swore that one day they were going to appeal for time off, specifically when that demon was working. Let them have one day where they didn’t have to deal with his bullshit. Please.)

Kiibo closed their eyes as they settled back down into a chair, the usual clack of keys and scratching of pencils soothing their nerves.

“Oh my, looks like Angie missed something good when she was out!” A peppy voice sounded right next to their ear, causing them to almost jump straight through the ceiling as they shrieked. Their heartbeat doubling, they turned to glare at her.

“Angie-san! Now you come back!?”

She laughed softly, the sound grating on his ears. Must she always try to scare him like that? (And why did it always work!?)

“Oh? Kiibo, you’re so wound up! You need to relax a little more!” She tilted her head curiously, a glint in her eyes. “What did Kokichi do this time?” They swore that she used everyone’s first names just to unnerve them. (She’d done it from her first day here! And if that weren’t enough, she only played dumb when asked about it, stating that she was a foreigner and to please overlook any mistakes she may make. One: She was fluent in Japanese. She’d said before that she’d grown up in Hokkaido?? Two: She had not even a trace of an accent when she spoke? Three: She had come out and admitted to them that it was fun to watch people react to her?) 

“Angie-san… you’re almost as bad as Ouma-kun for my health…” They weakly said, slumping over a table and groaning.

A hand patted their back hard, making them jerk each time it came down. “A-Angie-san! This really isn’t necessary!”

“Nyahaha! If Kiibo can’t even rant about Kokichi, Angie will just have to work these knots out! Then he’ll be good as new!”

“Angie-san, cease and desist or I will be forced to call the police!”

She burst into giggles, and Kiibo stared into nothing as everyone else in the office slowly turned to look at the two of them in both confusion and disbelief.

Yes, they really had just said that. (Thank Angie-san’s god that Ouma-kun hadn’t heard. There would’ve been no end to his countless inane remarks and his obnoxious laughter.)

Angie-san took out her phone and held it up to her ear, staring straight at them with the stupidest looking grin.

“Hello, hello? Police here, how may Angie be of service?”

Kiibo dragged a hand down their face and sighed. “I don’t know you.”

“Angie is a police officer! There’s no need to fear, concerned citizen, she’ll help you with any issue you have!”

“I’m concerned why I’m still friends with you.”

Angie-san smushed them into a hug all the while Kiibo contemplated life and wondered just why they were here. Of all locations, why had they chosen this one?

“Kiibo’s never getting rid of Angie! Nyahah, she’s here to stay!” She grinned against their head, and they sighed as they curled a hand around her arm.

“I suppose I’ll just have to live with that.” 

But they were smiling as they said it.

…

“Hoshi-kun, what does it mean when someone leaves you to pay the bill at a café?” 

Ryoma glanced up wearily, already preparing himself for the journey that Saihara was going to drag him on. He just knew.

“It means they’re an asshole.” What was Saihara doing going on dates with people like that in the first place? That was the real question here, but no way was he going to get involved any more than he had to. His roommate was a grown adult, he could handle himself.

“But, the way he looked, and he said my name, and it really felt…” Saihara went back to muttering to himself, eyes focused on the thoughts running through his head as he gripped his chin.

Ryoma blinked. Oh boy.

“Saihara.” He had to pause before speaking again. “Saihara, it doesn’t matter how pretty this guy is or how nice he acts. If he’s been treating you like that, he’s a piece of shit and you should break up with him.”

Ryoma’s roommate didn’t seem to even have heard him, still lost in his own head as he fidgeted with his fingers. 

“Hmm... Kirigiri-san left me the agency’s number, should I try…? Ah, but isn’t that too presumptuous? It would be so embarrassing to call and then say that I wanted to speak with Ouma-kun… Would he even be interested in talking more with me, a detective like that?” His mumblings got softer and softer until they dissolved into nonsense.

Well, he’d tried his very best. Nothing more to be done. Let Saihara make his own mistakes and live his life.

“Tell me if this Ouma starts causing you problems, Saihara. I’ll… take care of him.” Somehow it just slipped out without him noticing, and of course that was when his roommate decided to return to reality. Of course.

Wide yellow eyes stared at him, and a few seconds passed before he smiled. 

“Ah, there’s no need for something like that, Hoshi-kun… but thank you. You’re always looking out for me.”

Ryoma looked away and ran a hand through his hair. How couldn’t he, when this kid forgot his own schedule some days? Or when he woke up too tired to fix himself some breakfast? Saihara was a mess.

Tch. He really was turning into a mother hen.

“Just don’t get mixed up in something you’re not ready for.”

Saihara laughed, the sound bright and full. Despite himself, he looked back and found a warm, warm smile directed at him.

“I’ll try.”

It was hard to stay aloof when faced with that. This kid… Ryoma thought to himself that it really had been lucky for the two of them to end up rooming together. Somehow, without him noticing, the years spent studying and the late nights spent wandering the town, only to end up in perpetually open gas stations… they added up, and coalesced into something he never thought he’d have. 

He liked sitting here with Saihara, the silence between them just another form of talking. It was still weird to wake up and feel so content, to look forward to seeing Saihara when he got home from class. It was strange, this friendship they had formed, and how much it had helped the both of them.

But Ryoma wasn’t one for dwelling on things, and so he rolled over on his bed and closed his eyes to the sound of Saihara working on an essay. 

And he breathed.


End file.
